Martyrs' Cemetery of Xiang Jingyu

Martyrs' Cemetery of Xiang Jingyu

The Martyrs' Cemetery of Xiang Jingyu is a cultural relic protection unit of Hubei Province and a classic red tourism destination.

The Martyrs' Cemetery of Xiang Jingyu is located at the western foot of Tortoise Hill in Hanyang District, Wuhan City.

It consists of two parts: the Tomb of Martyr Xiang Jingyu and the Cemetery of Red Soldiers. The site was established to commemorate Xiang Jingyu, an outstanding member of the Communist Party of China and a pioneer of China's women's movement, as well as other revolutionary martyrs who sacrificed their lives in Wuhan during the early stages of the Agrarian Revolutionary War.

Xiang Jingyu (1895–1928) was from Shuhpu County, Hunan Province, and one of the earliest prominent leaders of the women’s movement in the Communist Party of China. In 1918, she joined the New People's Study Society led by Mao Zedong and Cai Hesen. In 1919, she went to France for work-study, and returned to China in 1922 to join the Communist Party. After the Fourth National Congress of the CPC, she was added as a Central Committee member, becoming the first female Central Committee member and the first head of the Women’s Department of the CPC Central Committee. In April 1927, she came to Wuhan and successively worked in propaganda roles at the Wuhan Federation of Trade Unions and the Hankou Municipal Committee of the CPC. After the failure of the Great Revolution in 1927, Xiang Jingyu remained in Wuhan, which was under white terror, taking charge of the work of the Hubei Provincial Committee of the CPC. In March 1928, she was arrested due to betrayal by a traitor. On May 1 of the same year, she was executed by the reactionary Kuomintang in the open space of Yujilipeng in Hankou. The Communist Party member Chen Chunhe buried her body along with those of other martyrs who had been killed at that time near the Buyan Pavilion (Hexagonal Pavilion) at the foot of the southwestern side of Tortoise Hill. Later, Chen Chunhe and Wang Zhigong were also executed by the reactionary Kuomintang, and the list they kept could not be found. Only the burial sites of martyrs such as Xiang Jingyu, Ma Junshan, Zhao Shidang, and Chen Qike are known. To honor these martyrs, they are collectively referred to as the "Red Soldiers." In 1950, the government began protecting the cemetery. In September 1955, the tombs were relocated to the southern foot of Bian Dan Mountain due to the construction of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge.

In 1978, on the 50th anniversary of the martyrdom of Xiang Jingyu, the Hubei Provincial Committee of the CPC and the Wuhan Municipal Committee decided to build the Martyrs' Cemetery of Xiang Jingyu at the western foot of Tortoise Hill. The cemetery faces west and features a tombstone inscribed with “Tomb of Martyr Xiang Jingyu,” written by Comrade Deng Xiaoping, and a bust of Xiang Jingyu. In 1986, the Wuhan Municipal Government relocated the Cemetery of Red Soldiers here. In July 1988, the martyrs’ monument was reconstructed—the original white cement bust was replaced with an 8-meter-tall seated marble statue carved by sculptor Cheng Yunxian. In August 2009, the Hubei and Wuhan municipal governments renovated and restored the Martyrs' Cemetery of Xiang Jingyu.

The Cemetery of Red Soldiers was designated as a cultural relic protection unit of Hubei Province in November 1956. The Tomb of Martyr Xiang Jingyu was designated as a cultural relic protection unit of Hubei Province in December 1981. The Martyrs' Cemetery of Xiang Jingyu was designated as a Hubei Provincial Patriotic Education Base in March 1995; in December 1988, it was designated as a Hubei Provincial Key Protection Unit for Martyrs’ Memorial Buildings, and in August 1989, it was designated as a National Key Protection Unit for Martyrs’ Memorial Buildings by the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Source: Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People's Republic of China

Xiang Jingyu

(1895–1928)

Minister of the Women’s Department of the CPC Central Committee, Revolutionary Martyr.

From Shuhpu County, Hunan Province, originally named Xiang Junxian, of Tujia ethnicity. She was born on September 4, 1895, into a merchant family in the county seat of Shuhpu. In November 1916, after graduating from Zhounan Girls' School, full of enthusiasm for saving the nation through education, she returned to Shuhpu to establish a coeducational girls’ school. In running the school, she strove to reform the curriculum by eliminating rote learning of the Four Books and Five Classics, and introduced practical courses in sewing and home economics. She promoted the idea of saving the country through education and fought against the feudal practice of foot-binding for women. With the goal of fostering self-governance... [Xiang Jingyu detailed information++]

Further Reading:

· Second Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units of Hubei Province